Ware pair relishes bountiful garden

When David R. Pilch was growing up, he worked on his father's farm and learned the secrets to a great garden.

His father, John S. Pilch, who died in 1992, was the child of Polish immigrants who had a farm. His father, an inventor who owned Ware Machine Works, taught him everything he knew about gardening.

Now, Pilch and his wife, Ellen J. Pilch, who live at 84 Old Belchertown Road across the street from the family farm, have created both a productive vegetable garden and a decorative area featuring the characters from "The Wizard of Oz," including the legs of the Wicked Witch that sprout out from beneath their dog house.

"It's very relaxing. I was a mechanical engineer, and it was very stressful. This helped me unwind," said David Pilch. Unemployed since February, he's been devoting much of his time to his garden.

"It's more than that. It's very personal. I remember how my dad taught me to plant. I put in a plant, and I remember him. A lot of things I do remind me of him, of things he told me how to do. It's very close to my heart," Pilch said.

One of his dad's specialties was horseradish, which he used on kielbasa and made as strong as possible.

"He would make gallons of it. He gave it to us to smell, and if you passed out, he knew it was successful," Pilch said.

Now David and Ellen Pilch don't make quite so much, and sometimes they prepare it outdoors because of the smell. They harvest only a few horseradish plants a year, digging out their wandering roots, preparing it and putting it in jars as gifts for friends and family.

The couple, who have been married more than 16 years, have had the garden since 1996, and each year it has grown larger as new things are added.

This year, they have an array of squash, cucumbers, beans, peas, carrots, celery, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes and sweet potatoes, corn, parsnips, beets and rutabagas. There are also strawberries, blueberries, herbs and radishes.

Ellen Pilch, a film buff who specializes in being an extra in movies and television shows, knew when she got married what she was getting into. Before they were married, she frequently helped out in the garden.

The couple doesn't sell any of what they grow, but often give it away to friends and family. They also make salsa and spaghetti sauce to use during the winter. They have a vegetable cellar in their basement.

"We eat a lot of vegetables. I make a killer vegetable soup in the Crockpot," he said.

They have developed an elaborate system for keeping out the many four-legged intruders that want to share the bounty of their garden. There is a three-tiered electric fence to keep out deer, woodchucks and rabbits.

Pie pans on strings keep away birds, especially crows after corn, and a there is a windmill that moves a ball bearing back and forth, creating a sound annoying to moles that radiates into the ground.

In winter, the couple studies seed catalogs and decide what to try out come spring. That's when the rototilling begins, and the application of fertilizer, lime and the ash from a bonfire of their brush cutting are spread.

While the cost of supplies and the hours put in don't make growing vegetables in the garden very cost effective, both say it is well worth the trouble. "There's the satisfaction of picking your own vegetables and making a great meal yourself," David Pilch said.